Football Jig Trailers?

[Micropterus salmoides]

I'm about to purchase some trailers for football jigs and was wondering what you guys would select for 63 degree water with 1 foot visibility. Targeting largemouth only. Water level has been dropping 1-2 feet every week or two.

[R.Cook]

For more stained water (sounds like what your fishing) I like the paca craws/chunks, or the berkley chigger craws. Also even in the murkier water I've still done well with the yamamoto double tails (5 inch). Check out the Bait Barn web site, they have all kinds of jig trailers on there... go to www.baitbarn.net

[Jason R.]

I use the Yamamoto twin tail in the 4 and 5 inch versions for almost all conditions.

[Andy Giannini]

I like Yamamoto's twin tails a lot with footballs. The only other one I fiddle with is a porker, but most of the time I dig a twn T or single tail.

.02 A.G.

Twin t is also powerfull on the flipping jigs.

A.G.

[ash]

I go a bit different here, SUPER Pork brown, purple or black.

If I am using plastics I really like to use a 5" Hula Grub or SweetBeaver.

I also tend to run on the heavier side with my football head jigs, typcially I start at 3/4 oz and work my way up from there and sometimes resort to the light 1/2oz jig

The full size Hula slows down the rate of fall, gives me solid bottom contact and the plastic skirt mixed with a round rubber jig just adds bulk, color and gives fish a different look. I typically fish the Brown and black jigs this time of year, and I am known to go to brown and purple.

[Steve]

If you are talking about a "bare naked" football head then the nod goes to full sized (5" I think) Yamamoto Hula Grub. If you are talking a football head with a rubber skirt then the Paca Chunk.

[Ridge_Runner20]

If you are talking about a "bare naked" football head then the nod goes to full sized (5" I think) Yamamoto Hula Grub. If you are talking a football head with a rubber skirt then the Paca Chunk.

Agreed. I like the Paca Chunk for anything 1/2oz+ and the Paca Chunk Jr. for lighter jigs. Great trailer!

RR_20

[Terry Smith]

SUPER PORK!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[Alex M.]

WOW....
Everyone took the words right outta my mouth....
Super Pork or Yamamoto 5" twin tail grub...Hands down the best trailers to pair up a footbal jig with. Can't go wrong with either. If you have any Hula Grubs, you can trim off the skirts, and you got yourself an instant twin tail grub....

[TomAtkeson]

I really prefer yamamoto hula grubs. They bulk up the jig a little and I've always had success with them. I like to pair brown football jigs (especially the brown and purple Revenge jigs) with the cinnamon purple/blk flake color green pumpkin and watermelon / red or the watermelon candy color.

I also found smallie beavers in similar colors work well too!

[Phil]

Berkley Chigger Chunk or Chigger Craw

[g-man]

If you are talking about a "bare naked" football head then the nod goes to full sized (5" I think) Yamamoto Hula Grub. If you are talking a football head with a rubber skirt then the Paca Chunk.

I second that. There are some many brands of trailers these days it can become a bit confusing. Try some of the above mentioned baits, and stick with what catches fish for you.

[dockboy]

Twin tail Yamis work fine most of the time. 4" for for light jigd, 5" for everything else. I start with a 3/4oz. If I need a lighter jig, or the fish aren't responding to the heavier weight, Ill scale down to a 1/2oz. In uber tough conditions, a 1/4 oz jig with 4" yami double tail is very good. There are so many trailer out there though, that you can fnd success with lots of different trailers.
But when the bite is real tough and the water is cold, I go with Super Pork. Nothing has the same subtle action as pork when the fish are sluggish. You can also trim the legs of Yami double tails if you're out of pork to the desired shape and amount of action.
As always, good luck !

[TonkaKid]

What version and size of the super pork are you using for 1/2-3/4 oz football jigs?

[Alex M.]

For the super pork/football jig trailer I normally use the "frog" or the "senior frog" sizes. They've both got an undeniable fish catching action to them. Amazing in mid-winter cold water conditions! Just depends on how big you wanna go.

Speaking of going big, I just received my weekly insideline email from Yamamoto, and there was a nice read about using 7" senkos as jig trailers for Big Mexican Bass. Thought this might be of some interest to some of y'all:



7-inch Senkos Mexican Style
Another group of anglers who rely heavily on 7-inch Senkos are the guests who visit Terry Hollan's fishing lodges in Mexico.
Terry Hollan of Amarillo, Texas runs Reel Mexican Adventures (www.mexicanadventures.com) and caters to angling travelers at his upscale Lake Baccarac Lodge (www.lakebaccaraclodge.com) and Lake Huites Lodge (www.lakehuiteslodge.com).
"In terms of Mexican trophy bass, no other lake has the size of bass found in Baccarac today," says Terry, "and several methods of using 7-inch Senkos rank high among the best ways to catch them."



7-inch Senko as Jig Trailers
One of the most productive yet unorthodox ways to rig the 7-inch Senko, something not used at all in the USA, and not even used on other lakes in Mexico, is as a big jig trailer.
"Quite simply, big bass want a big bulk. The more bulk and the more movement, the bigger the bite," explained Terry.
"We're not only using 7-inch Senkos as trailers on big jigs - we're using 1-1/4 oz spinnerbaits with 7-inch Senkos as trailers."
"A few years back when you can say we first discovered a big jig bite on Baccarac, we had just a naked jig for starters, and we did get some fish. What we found was the more bulk, the more and bigger we could make the jig with a trailer, the bigger the bite."
"Well, it wasn't long before we amped up to tipping the big jigs with the big 7-inch Senko, and that is the best trailer choice we've found so far for trophy bass," continues Hollan.
It's interesting for readers to note that, until recently, jigs have not been widely-used in Mexico. Only within the past few years have jigs been tried, due in part to top US pros proving jigs effective to win events on shared border waters such as Amistad and Falcon lakes. Since then, the jig has caught on across Mexico. However, Baccarac is one of the only places in Mexico (or anywhere) that 7-inch Senkos are used as jig trailers.
"Today, you can't get one of my guides on Baccarac to toss a jig unless it has a 7-inch Senko trailer. No guide here is going to fish a jig here without a black or black/blue 7-inch Senko on it."
"That big Senko trailer has become the 'trademark' of how big jigs are fished on Baccarac," says Hollan.
By big, Hollan refers to one ounce, either black or black/blue, rubber-skirted jigs.
"There's no doubt y'alls are the quality brand name," he says of Yamamoto baits, but readers note when Hollan refers to 'Senko' he is speaking generically and refers to all the Senko knock-offs together, not just Yamamoto Senkos.
"We use these big jigs both shallow and deep. By that I mean there are so many humps and hills and slow rolls on the lake bottom, that shallow and deep water are practically synonymous. On this kind of rising and falling structure, you can be fishing both shallow on top on the structure and deep at the base of the structure on each cast."
Hollan notes, "However, most of the big bass on Baccarac come from the deep sections of these structures. By deep, I mean anything over 18 feet is deep."
What's different than normal with the 7-inch Senko as a jig trailer is that the bulk is elongated and it extends for 7-inches beyond the jig skirt. This is the opposite of a normal, compact, chunky jig trailer that is short and squat. The difference is the 7-inch Senko is long and limber.
"The big one ounce jigs get down fast, they stir up the bottom, and with the 7-inch Senko, you have the added visibility of that big, long trailing bulk with movement. It's hard for fish not to see that big, waving Senko tail sticking up, and they react to it."

[Tin Can]

I've used senkos as trailers before, never a 7" though. Interesting.

[D.B.COOPER]

Surprised nobody mentioned Sweet Beavers, especially with low visibility. Awesome trailers for big football head jigs. D.B.COOPER

[Johnny C]

http://yamamoto.baits.com/cgi-bin/order/12-10

[Tin Can]

Surprised nobody mentioned Sweet Beavers, especially with low visibility. Awesome trailers for big football head jigs. D.B.COOPER

That and brushhogs. I use both a lot. Sometimes a full brushhog and sometimes a pinched off one. Depending on how big of a profile I want.

[Nick_Barr]

Large Yamamoto DT Hula Grub, 5-6 Inch

The skirt adds bulk to the grub trailer.

The senko article is interesting.